Happy Hour Vid: Paul Ryan, the Right's Voice of Substance

Republican Representative Paul Ryan's sharp talk on budget gimmicks became the conservative favorite of today's health care summit. The speech was both partisan and acerbic. Though left-leaning writers such as Jonathan Chait ultimately rejected his views, he won points for being more "substantive" than his colleagues. Here's what the Wisconsin Republican said:

Agreeable Tone

We all agree that health inflation is
driving us off a fiscal cliff. The President has said health care
reform is budget reform. You’re right ... Mr. President, you’re right
to frame the debate on cost--and health inflation’s threat to our
fiscal future.

On Gimmicks

The bill is full of gimmicks that more than erase the false claim of deficit reduction:

$52 billion of savings is claimed by counting increased Social Security
payroll revenues. These dollars are already claimed for future Social
Security beneficiaries, and claiming to offset the cost of this bill
either means we’re double-counting or we’re not going to pay Social
Security benefits.

$72 billion in
savings is claimed from the CLASS Act--long-term care insurance. These
so-called savings are not offsets, but rather premiums collected to pay
for future benefits. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad has
called these savings “a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.”

Additionally,
the nearly half-trillion dollars in Medicare cuts cannot be counted
twice. Medicare is in dire need of reform in order to make certain
that we can ensure health security for future seniors.

On Cost Control

The
most damaging assessment is from the Medicare’s chief actuary, showing
the bill ultimately increases national health spending by $222 billion
above current estimates, putting us on a trajectory even more
unsustainable than the path we’re currently on.

Does this legislative effort bend the health care cost curve?

It does--but in the wrong direction. It bends the cost curve up, not down.

Let’s
scrap this bill and start over. Let’s fix what’s broken, without
breaking what’s working. Let’s focus on step-by-step, common-sense
reforms that lower health care costs. That’s what the American people
want us to do, and we should start anew today.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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